Anna Sui On Her New Collaboration with Coach

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A jaunt downtown yesterday evening landed ELLE.com at the Coach store in Soho, where bundled up handbag-lovers celebrated the launch of a two-piece, limited-edition collection between the iconic brand and designer Anna Sui. "Coach wanted to revive their [1972] duffle bag and told me to do whatever I wanted," Sui told ELLE.com. "I mean, what more could you ask for than carte blanche from Coach?!"

in vegetable-tanned medium brown leather, exudes a vintage-rocker vibe and features hand-tooled and hand-knotted detailing. Each bag is embellished with solid brass hardware, a signature Coach hangtag, bold tassels, and a removable interior wristlet (which Sui was seen autographing last night).

What drew the eccentric, vivid-pattern-enthusiast to Coach? "I think we are an unexpected match, which sometimes makes the best kinds of collaborations," she said. "Coach told me to be as Anna Sui as possible, so that's why we brought in the art nouveau and the hippie feeling." And while the totes do have a distinctly Anna Sui feel, the classic sportswear style—as pioneered by one of Sui's favorites, designer Bonnie Cashin—is still unmistakably, and handsomely, palpable.